Synthesis and characterization of fluoropolymeric substrata with immobilized minimal peptide sequences for cell adhesion studies. I.

In this work, poly(tetrafluoroethylene-co-hexafluoropropylene) (also known as fluorinated ethylene propylene; FEP) was functionalized at the surface using a radio frequency glow discharge plasma. This particular surface modification produced controlled densities of hydroxyl functionality on the FEP surface. These surface hydroxyl groups provided sites for the covalent attachment of minimal peptide sequences, that are specific for neuronal attachment. FSCA, ATR-FTIR, ToF-SIMS, and fluorescence spectroscopy were used to evaluate peptide reaction efficiencies and to verify that intact peptide sequences were covalently attached to the FEP surfaces. These modified substrata were then used to study the cell attachment and response to covalently bound minimal peptide sequences. Cell attachment and differentiation results using NG108-15 and PC12 neuronal cell lines are presented in the adjoining paper by Ranieri et al.